Proverbs 17
Modern English Version
17 Better is a dry morsel with quietness
than a house full of sacrifices with strife.
2 A wise servant will have rule over a son who causes shame,
and will have part of the inheritance among the brothers.
3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the Lord tries the hearts.
4 A wicked doer gives heed to false lips,
and a liar gives ear to a wayward tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker,
and he who is glad at calamities will not be unpunished.
6 Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
and the glory of children are their fathers.
7 Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool,
much less lying lips to a prince.
8 A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him who has it;
wherever he turns, it prospers.
9 He who covers a transgression seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter separates friends.
10 A reproof enters deeper into a wise man
than a hundred stripes into a fool.
11 An evil man seeks only rebellion;
therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12 Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
13 Whoever rewards evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
14 The beginning of strife is as when one lets out water;
therefore abandon contention before a quarrel starts.
15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
both of them are abomination to the Lord.
16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom,
seeing he has no heart for it?
17 A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
18 A man void of understanding shakes hands,
and becomes a pledge in the presence of his friend.
19 He loves transgression who loves strife,
and he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
20 He who has a deceitful heart finds no good,
and he who has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.
21 He who fathers a fool does it to his sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 A merry heart does good like a medicine,
but a broken spirit dries the bones.
23 A wicked man takes a bribe out of a hidden place
to pervert the ways of judgment.
24 Wisdom is before him who has understanding,
but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father,
and bitterness to her who bore him.
26 Also to punish the just is not good,
nor to strike princes for their uprightness.
27 He who has knowledge spares his words,
and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
28 Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise;
and he who shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.